While the timing and the exact implications of the ruling are yet to be fully known, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has issued a statement on behalf of his league. The ruling gives states the rights to decide whether or not to legalize sports gambling, and many states are expected to take advantage of that quickly. The Supreme Court ruled last week to strike down a 1992 law that barred most state-authorized sports gambling.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote on behalf of the Supreme Court: "The legalisation of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make".

"These efforts include supporting commonsense legislation that protects our players, coaches and fans and maintains public confidence in our games", Goodell said in the statement.

He said those federal laws should include substantial consumer protections, allowing sports leagues to protect their content and intellectual property, giving fans access to official league data and providing law enforcement with resources to "protect our fans and penalize bad actors".

The Supreme Court's decision potentially opened up sports betting around the United States, but the implications of the decision and its applications going forward remain a gray area.

U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has had discussions with the National Football League and is planning to introduce federal sports betting legislation.

The leagues originally asked for sports betting operators to pay 1 percent of the amount wagered on their games but have since lowered the request to 0.25 percent. A bill sponsored by NY state Sen. It's a rip-off and hopefully state legislatures won't go for it, but that's what the leagues want.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported a record $4.8 billion of sports wagering in 2017, compared to $2.1 billion in 2010.